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The National Defense Act of 1935
(Commonwealth Act No. 1) was passed by the Philippine
National Assembly on December 21, 1935. The purpose of this act
was to create an independent Philippine Army, this was interrupted
by World War
II.

Office of the Military
Advisor

Military
Districts

The act divided the Commonwealth of the
Philippines into ten military districts, similar to the prewar
corps areas within the US. Each district
had a roughly equal population and each was to initially provide 1
reserve division, and ultimately three.

Reserve
Training

The Act provided for the drafting of Filipino men, between the
ages of 21 and 50, into the 30 reserve divisions. This force was to
be raised through 2 training camps, of 20,000 men each, lasting 22
weeks. The camps would be staffed by members of the regular
army.

The first group of 20,000 troops was drafted on January 1, 1937,
and there were 4,800 officers and
104,000 enlisted men in the reserves by 1939.